The 2025–26 Illinois State Redbirds women's basketball team represented Illinois State University during the 2025–26 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Redbirds, led by ninth-year head coach Kristen Gillespie, played their home games at CEFCU Arena in Normal, Illinois as members of the Missouri Valley Conference.
Previous season The Redbirds finished the 2024–25 season 24–13, 14–6 in MVC play, to finish in fifth place. They defeated Southern Illinois, before falling to Drake in the quarterfinals of the MVC tournament. They received an at-large bid to the WNIT, where they defeated Western Illinois in the second round, Abilene Christian in the Super 16, and Louisiana Tech in the Great 8, before falling to eventual tournament runners-up Troy in the Fab 4.
Preseason On October 22, 2025, the Missouri Valley Conference released their preseason poll. Illinois State was picked to finish third in the conference, receiving two out of a 44 possible first-place votes. Only the top 4 vote getters were released.
Preseason rankings +MVC Preseason Poll Place Team Votes 1 446 (25) 2 436 (13) 3 Illinois State 387 (2) 4 371 (4)
Source:
MVC "Players to Watch" MVC "Players to Watch"PlayerYearPositionAddison Martin SeniorForwardNevaeh ThomasJunior Source:
Roster
Schedule and results
!colspan=12 style=""| Exhibition
!colspan=12 style=""| Regular season
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Sources:
References